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Background:• After WW II, the US and USSR emerged as

rival superpowers.• Each nation was strong enough to greatly

influence world events.

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Potsdam ConferenceJuly 1945

• Final wartime conference• Big Three

– England = Attlee– USA = Truman– USSR = Stalin

• Stalin promised to allow free elections in Eastern Europe

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Satellite Nations…• Stalin never allowed

truly free elections.• Instead, communist

governments were installed in many Eastern European nations.

• Main Purpose?– Protect USSR from

invasion from the West

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Containment Policy• George Kennan, career

Foreign Service Officer• Formulated the policy of

“containment”:– US would not get rid of

communism, but would not allow it to spread.

– US would “contain” communism where is already existed.

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The Iron Curtain• Winston Churchill

coined this term.• Famous speech on

March 5, 1946 at Westminster College, in Fulton, Missouri.

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Churchill’s Warning…• Churchill felt that behind

the Iron Curtain, the USSR was planning to attack and conquer Western Europe.

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Division of Germany• The Allies decided to

divide Germany into 4 zones after the war.

• Also, the capital of Berlin was divided into 4 sectors.

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Problem with Berlin?• Berlin was in the

Soviet Sector.

• Stalin was not happy with a “small piece” of democracy in Eastern Europe.– What did he do?

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Berlin Blockade• June 1948, Stalin attempts to starve West

Berliners into submission.• All rail and street access was blocked.

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Berlin Airlift• American and British

planes flew food and supplies into Berlin for 327 days.

• Stalin lifted the Blockade by May 1949.

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Operation “Little Vittles”

• During the Berlin Airlift a group of pilots decided to help boost the spirits of the German children.

• They organized a mission to drop candy to the children using parachutes made of handkerchiefs.

Questions???